[SLIDESHOW] Exploring Brooklyn’s multicultural community through food
Photo:Mehroz Baig
Tasting beef, pork, and croquetas de yucca with ground beef at Anibal Meat Market.
By Mehroz Baig May 16, 2011
Listening to Puerto Rican music blasting from San German Records, eating beef and pork delicacies, and learning about bootlegged alcohol during prohibition are just a few aspects of the Immigration Foodways tour, a walking tour in Williamsburg that will launch on June 4, 2011.
Urban Oyster, the tour company, gave a sneak preview this past weekend. The tour provides a snapshot of Avenue de Puerto Rico in Brooklyn. This corner of Williamsburg has seen a variety of ethnic changes -- from the early 1800’s when most of the area was farmland to the 1900’s, when a large wave of Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe settled into the area. Now, the area boasts a robust population of Latinos, including Puerto Ricans, Ecuadorians and Mexicans.
“We kind of wanted to honor the community today,” said Cindy VandenBosch, founder of Urban Oysters.
The tour incorporates historical information about the area and ties in the various foods that have been a part of the ethnic populations that have lived here. Stops include the Moore Street Retail Market and Anibal Meat Market. The full tour will include tasting various juices at a juice bar in the Moore Street Market, along with seasonal fruits, other snacks and herbal tea tasting. Additionally, the tours will give each member a recipe booklet, which will feature traditional foods such as ceviche, sancocho, and arepitas de maíz. The recipes will come from the vendors at Moore Street Market, and the tour guides hope that with the knowledge about what foods are needed to cook those recipes, along with a place to buy the produce, food adventurists will test their kitchens with some traditional Latin dishes.
Urban Oysters will begin the Immigrant Foodways tour on June 4th and will continue every Saturday. Tickets are $35 per person, which includes the cost of food. For more information, contact Urban Oysters at www.urbanoyster.com.
